This invention relates to apparatus operative in a production line in which segments are cut from steel blooms at elevated temperature for subsequent processing into railroad car wheels or the like.
In a production line for the manufacture of railway wheels, or the like, hot rolled blooms of elongated cylindrical configuration called "logs" are formed by a rolling operation and then transferred along a pass line to a cutting station where segments of predetermined length, called "rounds", are cut from the logs. The cut rounds are permitted to fall from the pass line through a chute which conveys them to a station where they are collected and thereafter transferred to other stations where, by forging and other processing steps, they are formed into the finished product.
The cutting station typically includes a sizing gauge which is operably positioned in the pass line of the logs adjacent the cutting apparatus and contains a gauge head that is adjustably positionable with respect to the cutter. The gauge head operates as a limit stop which engages the leading end of the log as it traverses the pass line beneath the cutting apparatus and thereby accurately determines the position of the cut produced in the log by the cutting blade. The gauge head is retractable from its limit stop position to accommodate axial elongations of the log as cutting proceeds. After severence of a round, the gauge head is returned to its original position to receive the log end prior to the next cut being made.
It happens that the blooms or logs received from a rolling mill are not entirely perfect throughout their full length. Typically, the ends of the logs contain pipes which require cropping and occasionally blowholes or other imperfections are located intermediate the ends of the logs. Such imperfections prevent the affected portion of a log to be used as railroad wheel rounds. In these instances, the affected portion of the log must be severed and removed before the cutting of rounds can continue.
In the past, the sizing gauge has been fixedly positioned with respect to the cutting apparatus. Moreover, the space available for the passage of cuttings from the log into the discharge chute has been limited. While rounds and most crop ends can be conveniently passed, oftentimes, when imperfections occurred over an extended portion of a log, they have been severed but could not be passed through the discharge chute. In these instances, the operation of the production line was terminated and a crane with lifting tongs has to be brought to the site for removing the severed elongated segment from the line. This is both a time consuming and hazardous operation.
It is to an improvement of such installations, therefore, that the present invention is directed.